The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

January 08, 1987|by JOHN KUNDA, The Morning Call

It was at the Boulders Golf Course, some 20 miles north of Scottsdale - in the "real" desert territory surrounding Carefree, Ariz. - that John Junker had the opportunity to, as he said, "catch my breath for the first time in six weeks." This was the day after the Fiesta Bowl; and, for Junker, it was a day he thought would never come.

Junker is the No. 2 man in the Fiesta Bowl's organizational chart. He is Executive Director Bruce Skinner's right-hand man; and, if the Fiesta people gave out a "workhorse" award, Junker would be high on the list of candidates.

"It was an experience," Junkersaid of his job that included coordinating the hospitality and services for the 600-plus media folks from all over the country who were in town covering the Fiesta Bowl's neatly-arranged Battle for No. 1.

On this day after the bowl, however, Junker was content and relaxed, making some good shots on the Boulders course, a specactular layout cut in and around and through rocks and mountains, and playing host for a couple of Pennsylvania writers and Pete Kowalski of the Penn State sports information staff.

It was only natural that idle conversation centered on the Fiesta Bowl - the pregame; the postgame and the game itself.

The secret had already been out. The Fiesta Bowl, as reported in the morning paper out of Phoenix, was all but embarrassed with some of the antics of the Miami football team. One story went so far as to indicate that "it'll be a long, cold day in you-know-where" before the Hurricanes are invited back.

"There was some strange behavior on their part," Junker said, picking his words carefully, then adding, "yes, they did cause some headaches."

Junker has no special allegiance to Penn State, although he did develop a fondness for the Nittany Lions through Penn State's previous visits to the Fiesta Bowl. "A class operation," said Junker of the whole Penn State scene.

It was ironic that he used the word "class" because in the same morning paper, a columnist wrote, "class beat crass." Earlier in the week, another columnist awarded Miami the "rudeness championship" of college football.

There is a distinct line separating having fun and downright rudeness. Junker could have been more emphatic, but he wasn't about to get caught in the middle of a behavior debate.

As it turned out, the University of Miami administrators opened the debate themselves. Yesterday, in a wire story out of Miami, university officials came right out and said they were displeased and embarrassed by the behavior of their football team. They suggested that the team's behavior could result in striter rules for "student-athletes representing the university."

The Miami administrators were upset about three incidents: The arrival of Miami players in army fatigues; the walkout of the entire team from a steak fry earlier in the week; and the exchange of taunts between Miami players and Penn State fans (and players) prior to the bowl game.

Perhaps the wearing of the army fatigues was done in fun, giving the message of "going to war." The other incidents, however, were certainly uncalled for.

Jimmy Johnson, the Miami coach, wallowed in his team's dress code for the arrival in the Valley of the Sun, mentioning, "it was a great idea . . . I wish it would have been mine." However, Johnson, who had admitted he was a devilish character when he played at Arkansas, defended the team's walkout at the steak fry over what was interpreted as a "racial slur."

It seemed that all three incidents, even the bold taunts at the Penn State players just before kickoff, were minor compared to some of the police incidents that got national attention from Sports Illustrated following Miami's win over Oklahoma early in the season. None of those were funny.

More than once during the pregame hype, Johnson said: "We don't talk about that." And, once he added: "If we do, we give shorter answers."

What Miami doesn't like to talk about turned out to be hot conversation in and around the Fiesta Bowl headquarters, not to mention the hot topics that went into stories all across the country.